Technical Field
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for controlling light emission of a vehicle headlight, and a headlight system provided with the control apparatus.
Technical Background
A headlight unit mounted to a vehicle emits light with its conditions being controlled by a control apparatus which is conventionally well known. The emission control is performed on the basis of various pieces of information.
For example, there is known a control apparatus that controls light emission conditions of a headlight unit on the basis of the state of approach of an oncoming vehicle or the ambient brightness. In another control apparatus which is also well known, a road shape is recognized from an image captured by a camera, and the recognized road shape is used for estimating a region where an oncoming vehicle could be present. Then, the estimation results are used as bases for performing the emission control (e.g., see PTL 1). According to this control apparatus, the approach of an oncoming vehicle in the estimated region is detected using a millimeter-wave radar apparatus. Then, on condition that the detection has been conducted, light emission is controlled to ensure that light is not emitted to the corresponding region.